How the Shepards saved the galaxy
by F.Blackburn
Summary: AU where Humanity has been in space for 200 years longer. Both Shepards do their best to stop the return of the Reapers. FShepxAlenko & MShepxMiranda
1. Chapter 1

**Joint Chiefs of Staff Room, Alliance Military HQ, Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream, Systems Alliance Core / 31.01.2383**

Arcturus Station, the largest man-made structure in the Alliance, the political and military center of the Systems Alliance. Three times bigger than the original structure built about 200 years ago. A massive Stanford Torus Space Station with a diameter of 15 kilometers with 2 new wheels added, which offered space for several million people and hundreds of docks. The outer wheel contained the living habitats, agricultural, commerce, entertainment, and civilian spaceport facilities for the residents of the station. The middle wheel formed the beating heart of the Alliance government, with all three branches of government located here. The legislative branch, with the Congressional Hall, featuring both Houses of Senate and Representatives, and the offices of the members of both houses. The Executive Branch with the offices of the Prime-Minister and members of cabinet, and all different departments of the Alliance government. And the Judiciary branch with the Alliance Supreme Court. The Inner wheel was restricted for civilians as the Alliance Military utilized the inner wheel, with Alliance Military Headquarters, also called Military High Command (HIGHCOM), personnel residences, training facilities and other military facilities occupying most of the space. In the center of the station was a large central axis which housed the Alliance Navy Command and Control Center, Arcturus Fleet Headquarters, and the military spaceport facilities.

Located within the center of Military High Command was the room of Joint Chiefs of Staff. Currently 6 people occupied that room, each sitting in a comfortable real leather chair around a circular Brazilian Rosewood table, with in the center a holo-display. Six of the most powerful people in the Alliance military were gathered in the room, which had been hermetical sealed from the rest of the space station.

"Well, you all know why you're here." The oldest man in the room looked at everyone in the room before turning to look at the holo-terminal in front of him. "the PM ordered us to find a fitting candidate for SPECTRE-hood. Let's get this over with so that our beloved ambassador Udina can notify the Council." There were a few chuckles, as everybody in the room knew that there was no love lost between Ambassador Udina and Marine General Curtis Brandt, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The Chairman's black Marine service uniform was filled with medals and ribbons of combat operations going as far back as the Insurgency, the First Contact War and the Frontier Rebellion.

The VI projected the face of the first candidate in question, and some basic information, the hologram hovered half a meter above the table and slowly rotated. The VI's robotic voice announced the first candidate, at the same time the date appeared on the holo-terminals in front of each person seated.

"Fausto Lampanelli, Sergeant Major, Systems Alliance Army, N-5, Assignment: 9th Direct Action Airborne Regiment, 3rd Battalion, at Hellas."

It was the 57-year-old Army general Christopher Orelas who started speaking. A man with an olive skin, dark brown hair and brown eyes, his accented voice revealed his origin from the paradise world of New Providence, where is family had established itself in the tourism business 150 years ago and had quickly made a name for themselves, now owning hotels on almost every Alliance world. Orelas was the youngest person in the room, having risen through the ranks before becoming a general officer at the young age of 48, the youngest to do so. "Lampanelli is a good man, has been with us since he joined as a grunt in 2359, came off age and enlisted when the Frontier Rebellion entered its third year. Has a solid reputation as a leader, well-liked by both grunts as the brass, he takes care of his men and they love him for it."

Marine Corps Commandant Richard Hargreaves snorted. Hargreaves, age 78, was a man from a family with a long military history, his hair had only now started greying after decades of service. The 6th Hargreaves in a row to graduate from Sentinel Military Academy on Arcadia with honors, he chose the Marine Corps instead of following the family tradition and joining the Army. When asked why, he stated that he joined the Corps, because he liked to see the universe, he didn't like being stuck on a planet. This statement dropped him right in the middle of the First Contact War, yet 35 years later he had reached the rank of Commandant of the Marine Corps. His black uniform held almost as many medals and ribbons as general Brandts. "He's nothing more than an order-taker. He can't seem to take the right decisions. He hesitated too long during that mess on Solaris' University Campus. And by the time he gave the orders to go in, it was too late. The hostages were death and the perpetrators managed to escape. We don't need someone who can't make decisions. Pass."

"We didn't find anything on him. Except that he likes to drink too much." This raised some eyebrows, causing former Army general and Director of National Intelligence Renardo Galán to explain his findings further. "Our psychologist states that Sergeant Major Lampanelli has started drinking after the Campus situation. They told me he probably feels guilty for not intervening earlier and letting all those students die. So, Pass." As Director of National Intelligence, Renardo Galán had control over an entire alphabet of agencies, with the 2 most important being the civilian Alliance Intelligence Agency and its military counterpart, the Military Intelligence Directorate. Both agencies were vital in the meteoric rise of the Alliance, they had quickly made a reputation for themselves as being more than capable rivals to the Turian Blackwatch, Salarian Special Tasks Group and the Council's SPECTRE's. Even STG and the Shadow Broker treaded lightly in Alliance Space, especially in the Inner Worlds, since both agencies had become renowned for their skills in counter-intelligence, disinformation and counter-insurgency operations. The three others in the room nodded at that statement and all went with a pass, as they voiced their agreement of not selecting someone with alcohol problems for SPECTRE.

The VI proceeded to show the next candidate.

"Riley Parmentier, Captain, Systems Alliance Navy, Assignment: 19th Fleet, 3rd Patrol Group, CO of the SSV Barbarossa, out of Vekta."

As Chief of Naval Operations Fleet Admiral Sylvia Seabrooke was the most powerful woman in the Alliance Navy. Her upper-class English accent revealed her aristocratic background as she proceeded with a motivation for the selection. "A vanguard who distinguished herself in the months leading up to Operation Hornigold during which she captured dozens of ships. This allowed us to pinpoint the exact locations of the pirate bases. She might be a bit on the brutal side, but she gets the work done. Piracy in the Vekta sector has dropped with almost 77% since she was assigned to the region. She received her own heavy frigate a couple of years ago. Despite numerous request not to, she still joins the boarding parties and is often in the thick of the fighting. She is on the short list for a Medal of Terra for a heroic action she did last year."

"You want to give the Council a pirate-hunter?" The 7 foot 3 massive Air Marshal Dimitri Chekhov asked astonished, his English heavy accented. The son of a Russian father who moved to the Outer Colonies to invest in mining operations in the Outer Colonies. Joining the Systems Alliance Aerospace Force once he reached adulthood, Chekhov had been worked his way up the ranks, having been a fighter ace during the First Contact War and Frontier Rebellion. He was perhaps the most liked of all in the room with the rank and file. "They don't give rat's ass about piracy. If they did, they would have dealt with Batarians and scum in Terminus long time ago. And when we want to retaliate, they force us not to, because they don't want war. We don't need a pirate-hunter, we need a fighter. Pass."

"She can only follow orders. Give her a ship and an assignment and she'll do it. But she never takes initiative or what so ever." General Orelas spoke up, voicing his discontent with the Captain.

"She doesn't work well with Turians. Her parents died defending Shanxi during the First Contact War. So that's a no." Director Galán advised.

"Next!"

The holo changed again, yet this time the person in question wasn't a service member.

"Who the hell is this? I thought we were only having military personnel and you're giving us a Fed?" Commandant Hargreaves demanded, looking up from the display in front of him at the Chairman.

"László Farkas, Special Agent in Charge, Alliance Bureau of Investigation, location: Milgrom, Bekenstein" the VI pipped up.

"Chekhov, you know him." Orelas stared at the hovering holo, he was curious. He had heard of the previous two candidates, yet had not heard anything about the current one.

"No, never did."

"Then what did he do? Special Forces, combat pilot, something else?" Orelas demanded. Everybody in the room looked at Director Galán, who quickly looked down at his notes before speaking up.

"Special agent Farkas served with the Aerospace Force Military Police for 25 years, reaching the rank of Group Captain and then joined Bureau. He is best known for catching the Maiden Killer, a serial killer on Arcadia who killed dozens of Asari Maiden tourists."

Even the Chairman stared in disbelieve at the holo.

"Which bloody moron selected him as candidate?" Admiral Seabrooke blurred out.

"I think Udina did." Galán admitted, "Special agent Farkas has received numerous awards for both the military and for his career with the ABI. C-Sec has offered him a job a couple of times, yet he refused all, not wanting to leave the Alliance."

"It says here that Farkas was an investigator with the MP's, solved 97% of his cases." Seabrooke read the man's service record out loud. "Well, at least he can solve cases. He can find new leads and draw his own conclusions."

"Yeah, yeah, but what about combat experience? Can he hold his own in a firefight, can he handle himself when he is surrounded and fight his way out?" Hargreaves wanted to know. "Renardo?"

"Was involved is several shootouts, yet he's been stationed on Bek for 6 years now. Investigating mostly white collar crime. He hasn't use his gun outside of the firing range for 4 years."

"A man who hasn't shot his gun in 4 years?" Hargreaves frowned. "Pass."

One after another, all people in the room said the same word. "Pass."

"Thalassa Xenaki, Chief Petty Officer, Systems Alliance Navy; N6, Assignment: 1st Special Reconnaissance Regiment, out of Arcturus."

It was Admiral Seabrooke who read out the woman's service record. "Top percentile of her class when it came to infiltrator training. Instructors said that she used cloaking tech like a second skin. Because of her small figure, she can fit into spaces where others can't. But her colleagues say that she's a loner, and doesn't working well with others. When she is teamed up with others, debriefings state that she doesn't co-operate with her team. And that she goes lone wolf, sometimes even risking the mission."

Again, each member voiced their negative opinion about this.

"I think she would be good in Intelligence; the Directorate can always use more infiltrators." The DNI stated. "I'll advice the director of MID." Seabrooke agreed with this.

"Well, we've got two remaining candidates." The holo change again.

"Marc Flaggs, Major, Systems Alliance Army, Assignment: 27th Army Division, Arcadia."

"Major Flaggs is the son of Senator Flaggs from New Providence, he graduated from Illium University of Law and spend the following years traveling throughout Council space. He eventually joined the Army. His superiors say that he is rather arrogant, but also has the tenacity of doing everything to get the job done. His arrogance rubbed some the wrong way, yet his tenacity is the reason why he has been promoted so many times in such short period." Major Flaggs was general Orelas' favorite. Their families went back for decades and both had grown up together.

Chekhov interrupted. "He has disciplinary problems. Hitting superior officers. We don't need that."

"Flaggs stated that the officer insulted his father." Orelas protected his childhood friend.

"We don't need someone who hits his superiors." General Brandt voiced his displeasure. "Someone who does, shouldn't even be in the military."

"Looks like the senator has used his influence to keep his son out of trouble. Seems like all of it was buried." Hargreaves had heard about Major Flaggs, he had used his biotics to put a superior officer through a wall because he had said something about Senator Flaggs. That officer had been a respected marine officer, whom had received a medical discharge afterwards.

Everyone said their part, either voting for or against Major Flaggs. In the end, he was passed over.

"Marie-Ange De Sarlat, Alliance Intelligence Agency, assignment: classified."

Again, all voiced their opinion about the candidate. Again, there were more who said 'no' that 'yes', the general opinion being that a spook shouldn't be humanities first SPECTRE.

General Brandt cleared his throat and caught the eye of everybody in the room. "Okay, none of the candidates were accepted, I've got two more possibilities." He entered a code into his omni-tool and the last holo hovering above the table changed to two faces, one male and one female. A rather unknown man, the woman however was well-known with the Alliance brass.

"The bloody Lion of Elysium." Admiral Seabrooke breathed out. It was 8 years since the Blitz had happened and you still couldn't look anywhere on an Alliance world without seeing Alliance recruitment posters with the iconic photo of then Sub-Lieutenant Jane Shepard defending Elysium. She should have known that Jane Shepard would be one of the candidates. "Who is the other person?" Before an answer could be given, the VI spoke up.

"Jane Tamara Shepard, Lieutenant-Commander, Systems Alliance Navy, N7, Assignment: 11th Fleet, Heavy Frigate SSV St. Petersburg, out of St. Michael. And John William Shepard, Captain, Systems Alliance Marine Corps, N7, Assignment: Not Available"

"Family?" Orelas questioned, staring at the holo in front of him.

"Yes, siblings actually." The Chairman took the word. Having a good relationship with the entire Shepard family, except for the black sheep of the family, John Shepard. The Shepard family had members serving in the military since the second world war. Its members had taken part in every important event of Alliance history in one way or another. "Well you all know her as "The Lion of Elysium" and one of the strongest biotics in the Alliance history. But I'll give you all a quick bio. Lieutenant-Commander Jane Shepard. As you all know, the Lieutenant-Commander is a military-brat, the daughter of SAMC Major Adrien Shepard, God rest his soul, and Commodore Hannah Shepard, currently XO on the dreadnought SSV Mangala, part of 7th Fleet. Born on April 11th 2354. At age 2 her parents divorced, Jane stayed with her mother and grew up on space ships and space station. At age 8, she was officially detected as a biotic and has been trained ever since. Being a member of the Shepard family, she got accepted in Arcturus Naval Academy, one of many academies and universities offering her a scholarship. She graduated with 2 master diplomas', one in Geopolitical Science and another in Linguistics. She was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant and send to Elysium where she worked as a military liaison and intelligence officer to the local government on Elysium. This being the reason that she was present during the Blitz. She took the initiative in the successful defense of Illyria. She received a Star of Terra, one of many awards she has received, for her actions. Captain David Anderson, then a Lieutenant-Commander got the honor to invite her to the Villa. She graduated as N7 with specialization in the Vanguard Program. She did several covert operations and was later stationed at Churchill Military Base on the Citadel where she participated in numerous joint operations with alien forces and C-Sec across the Council Space. Currently she is assigned as XO to the SSV St. Petersburg, under Captain Bardani, part of the 11th Fleet stationed out of St. Michael."

"Well, she is the Lion and our PR girl. Her face is known to every Alliance citizen and she has good standing with aliens. Making her a SPECTRE, gives us even more influence. She is Alliance through and through, she'll do whatever we order her." General Orelas spoke up. He had always liked the Lieutenant-Commander. "I like her. She has my vote."

"She has courage. Any dirt on her?" Air Marshal Chekhov stared at Director Galán, who shook his head.

"No, we combed through her entire live. Nothing of note. No financial problems, no political land mines or what so ever. She has been in an on-and-off relationship for the last 3 years with one Kaiden Alenko, a biotic and a 1st Lieutenant with Army Rangers. She's got my vote, yet I'd like to wait for her brother before I make my vote definitive." Director Galán spoke, looking at each person in the room.

"She is the only reason Elysium is still standing. She has my vote." Chekhov stated

"Yeah, yeah, we all know Lieutenant-Commander Shepard, but what about the other one? Her brother. I remember him from Mindoir." Admiral Seabrooke stared at the picture of the male Shepard sibling in front of her. The Shepard siblings didn't have any resemblance, if you put them next to each other without knowing they were siblings, you wouldn't be able to say they were related. Jane Shepard had the emerald green eyes of her mother and burgundy red hair from her paternal grandmother. John Shepard had inherited the grey eyes and jet black hair that defined most of the males in the Shepard family.

It was Commandant Hargreaves who gave an entire resume, knowing it by heart as the male Shepard sibling had been a favorite of both the ranks and file and the officers in the Marine Corps. "Captain John Shepard, born November 9th 2350, lived with his father on Earth after the divorce of his parents. He romantically linked to the Kellan-heiress until her disappearance in '66. Moved to the colonies with his father and new stepfamily a several months later before they settled on Mindoir. He was accepted into Arcturus Naval Academy. To the amazement of his instructors, he won the ANA hand-to-hand Combat Tournament four consecutive years in a row, beating cadets with years of training ahead of him. Before Mindoir he was at the top of his class, having been raised as a marine by his father since he was born. His instructors described him as a uniquely talented marksman, but he had a penchant for getting himself into trouble. Yet somehow, someway, he always got himself out of it. When participating in mock battles, the team he was in almost always won. His team members attributed their success to his ability to command them from hundreds of yards away even as he was picking off targets with his sniper rifle. Long range engagements were his strong point, but not his strongest. Give him an assault rifle and he was truly in his element, moving with an asari matriarch-like grace according to reports from teachers and instructors.

He was present on Mindoir when the Raid happened. Lost his father, step-mother and all his siblings living on Mindoir during the Raid, the Bloodbath or thermobaric explosion. He was one of the few lucky ones that got out of Nouveau Genève before the Bats leveled it. He had suffered severe injuries and was out for several weeks. But he threw himself into his recovery. Reports from teachers and instructors state that he turned introvert when he returned to the Academy. He closed himself off from his fellow classmates and spend all his free time at the shooting range or library. Stayed at the Academy during the holidays, refusing to visit his family.

He was commissioned as a 2nd Lieutenant and was tapped for training with Marine Force Recon. After completing training, he took part in numerous covert operation throughout Council, Alliance, Terminus and Batarian Space. During a joint Turian Army and SA Marine Corps counter-insurgency operation in the Terminus he risked his life to safe several pinned down and wounded marines and Turians. He received a Silver star and was offered a place at the Villa. He went through the courses in a record time and became the youngest N7 in history. A record that still stand, one of the many records that he established. He was selected to become part of the Marine Raiders, _Evocati_ team, attached to the 13th Marine Division."

"Wait a minute." Orelas interrupted holding up a hand, before he received a glare from Chairman Brandt for doing so. "He is the one responsible for Torfan. The Butcher." He spat out the title alien and some human news agencies had given him. Despite this title, he had been a hero among the rank and file.

"Yes, he is the one responsible for Torfan, but let me continue." Hargreaves stared at Orelas until he nodded. "The Blitz. We all know the picture of Jane Shepard standing in the breach with her biotics flaring and a gun in her hand, surrounded by bodies of the attackers."

"We have been using that bloody image for years, you still can't look anywhere without seeing it somewhere." Seabrooke spoke. While she was the female Shepard sibling eternally grateful since her daughter and family had been in Elysium during the Blitz, she couldn't stand the woman nor could she the mother.

General Brandt nodded "Yes, but what no-one knows is that John Shepard was also on Elysium. He was on leave, on Elysium to visit his sister for the holidays, the first time he had made contact with her since Mindoir. When Haliat attacked, then 1st Lieutenant John Shepard led dozens of N-rated forces behind the lines. They disrupted Haliat's forces so much that Haliat ordered half his forces to search Illyria for them. Keeping them busy for so long that the Army Corps of Engineers had the time to turn that hotel in a damn fortress. They killed several hundreds of enemy combatants."

"Why nobody knows this?" Air Marshal Chekhov asked as curiosity got the better of him.

"Because he never wanted his identity to become known. He refused any medals offered to him. And we've kept a tight lit on it." Director Galán responded. He had liked the male sibling, who had a Machiavellian approach to things and knew that not everything was as black and white as most people though.

Hargreaves continued. "After Elysium he was send to aid the anti-slavery faction on Anhur as part of the 13th MEF and later he was the XO of an expedition to investigate the missing Pioneer team on Akuze, where he was the only survivor after an encounter with those big monster worms. Spend 5 months recovering from those events. Took part in Operation Hornigold, _Evocati_ was vital in the capture of 2 pirate bases. His team was present on Torfan. And we all know what happened there. When the fallout of the operation and more specifically his actions became known, those good-for-nothing idiots in parliament turned around from basking in the light of having defeated those vile pirates to forcing us to court-martial him and several general officers among the army, navy and aerospace force agreed. His family did that idiotic stunt and claimed that to them he had died in those tunnels on Torfan along with all who died. After this, he disappeared." All faced towards Galán, demanding more info, who sighed before giving an explanation.

"A couple of months after Torfan, with the public backlash, he was approached by Cerberus." The revelation made some of the people frown. Once Cerberus had been the darkest of organizations of the Alliance, but in the recent years they had committed several very questionable things which had found their way into the spotlight. These acts had caused the Alliance to disavow the organization, while the Council had labelled them a terrorist organization. Despite this, the organization was not actively being hunted by the Alliance. "He responded negatively to their request. And general Petrovsky approached him with a preposition, recruiting him into a covert JSOC/AIA program, with official cover being "on indefinite loan to AIA". That was days before Petrovsky was forcefully discharged."

"Petrovsky, former Marine general Petrovsky?" When Orelas received a nod as confirmation to his question, he furiously continued. "This man is working for Petrovsky? That monster?" Orelas had never liked the Marine general who had been in charge of the legendary 13th Marine Expeditionary Force. It was under the command of Petrovsky that the 13th gained their reputation of fearless ruthlessness despite overwhelming hostile forces, their most (in)famous operations include the counter-attack on Reach and Elysium, the Anhur civil war and Torfan.

"Shut up, you know nothing about what truly happened." Hargreaves was quick to defend his old comrade-in-arms. "It were different times back then. Those bastards on Torfan were Hegemony-backed, they were privateers who had been a thorn in our side for years, disrupting our trade, attacking our colonies, enslaving and/or killing our people. Parliament wanted us to show power. They wanted us to make it clear that humanity was not to be trifled with. We send in our marine supported by a fleet. The troops we send in were vastly outnumbered, 4 to one compared to the number of slavers, pirates and other scum. By all accounts, we should have lost that battle, yet we won."

"We lost thirty thousand men!" Orelas protested.

"And they lost seven hundred thousand!" Hargreaves slammed his fist on the table. "Petrovsky did what he was ordered to do! Parliament gave him an objective, and he completed that objective. He conquered that moon!"

"Three hundred thousand of non-combatants died! And they killed prisoners and civilians! You all have seen that footage that got leaked. He shot humans for gods sake!" the argument between the two became heated. And the chairman intervened before things became even more complicated.

"General Orelas," the Chairman addressed the Army general, "Have you read the after-action reports?" When the general responded negatively, the Chairman continued. "Well then, let me tell you the complete story."

"The moon of Torfan was the last part of Operation Hornigold, during which we tracked and captured or destroyed 7 major pirate anchorage station. Initial intelligence told us that the inhabitants of that rock had been employed by the Batarian Hegemony for at least half a decade as privateers to disrupt our trade, attack our colonies and to enslave and/or kill our citizens. Intelligence indicated that there were about 8.4 million inhabitants in the subterranean levels scattered across the moon. So, we send in the million strong 13th MEF, supported by the 5th Fleet under Hackett." Chairman Brandt offered. "Somebody in the navy messed up, the orbital bombardment failed to deliver the expected results. They were waiting for us when our troops landed, despite that the navy told us that the bombardment had forced them deep underground. Within the first hour of the landing operations we lost 3000 men, N-teams and ODAM's (Orbital Drop Assault Marines) were slaughtered and marine _Kodiak's_ and _Ospreys_ were fired upon while midair by the AA-guns that somehow weren't destroyed during the Navy's bombardment. The entire field command structure across the moon was disrupted. Many officers were either incapacitated or killed. The ones who were lucky enough got medevaked back to the fleet. Army major Kyle, the commanding officer responsible for the LZ where both Shepards would land, was pinned down from the moment he set foot on that moon.

Petrovsky had been smart enough to keep several N7 units back as reserve. One of these units was Captain John Shepard's _Evocati_ Marine Raiders and _Varangia_ , a naval N7 unit of which Lieutenant Jane Shepard was part off. Captain Shepard went to Petrovsky, told him he could make a difference. Petrovsky gave him the go-ahead. _Evocati_ and _Varangia_ dropped right into the thick of the fighting, other teams dropping at other landing sites. Major Kyle was unresponsive when _Evocati_ reached him, thus as most senior officer in the area and N7, John Shepard quickly took command and led the charge. He got everybody out of the kill-zones and established a perimeter and went into the tunnels with about 200 men. The unusual dense rocks made comm-contact beyond line-of-sight was near to impossible. Once Shepard went in, he was out of contact with command for at least 2 days and for a long time nobody knew if they were still alive. The first ones who surrendered, about 40, were a small group of non-combatants, but mostly suicide-bombers. They had mines and grenades strapped to their bodies, once they were within the midst of our troops, they detonated, killing dozens of our troops, among them 2 of Captain Shepard's unit. He was furious and told his unit to show no quarter. He did it for a couple of reasons, the first one being to prevent the deaths of anyone else under his command, the second reason being, that he knew that he didn't have enough people to both guard/accompany the prisoners back and keep pushing forward if they came across more prisoners , and his last reason and most important one, the order came from the very top."

"That's bullshit." Orelas interrupted in disbelief.

"No it was not. Despite all that was said, it was an order coming directly from the top." Hargreaves schooled his colleague. "The Prime-minister and his cabinet told us to make a statement, and Shepard was the one who did it. Do you even know what happened further?" When Orelas didn't respond, Hargreaves continued. "After hours of brutal fighting, about 200 meters underground, they arrived at the only slave processing center on the moon. They found thousands, if not tens of thousands of all species. Human, Asari, Turian, Salarian, Drell, Batarian, around hundred of Elcor and even Quarian. All forced in too small cages. Half of them were implanted with Cranial implants so they didn't offer any resistance. When our people were well into the room, having cleared it, they started opening the cages. Then the Bats gassed the chamber. Our men were lucky because of their sealed armor, the slaves weren't. All, except the Quarians because of their suits, died within minutes before the eyes of our men."

"You know the footage that was leaked to the media? Where Captain Shepard was the first to fire upon a line of humans behind which Batarians were standing?" Hargreaves continued, he didn't leave Orelas time to respond. "That happened in a room not far from the cages. The Bats were using them as shield. They were taunting us. It was Shepard who started firing first, he later told Petrovsky that he didn't want the Bats to escape like they did at Mindoir or similar situations. The entire brass agreed with what he did. We couldn't have a repeat like Mindoir, where they escaped because our people were too afraid to harm those captured."

"Shepard killed them without reason."

"No! Those slaves were nothing anymore. Whoever they had been before, didn't matter anymore, they had been conditioned so much to only respond to their masters' orders. Killing them was an act of mercy."

Again, Orelas wanted to speak his mind, yet when he received a stern look from the chairman he quickly closed his mouth.

"How did he manage to kill those thousands in the levels below?" Seabrooke asked.

"He found where the Bats kept their gas and send it into the air vents leading deeper into the stronghold. Then he turned off the air supply and let them die. After that, they entered the main stronghold.."

"Didn't his sister went against him? Didn't he pull a gun on her" Seabrooke remembered.

Now it was Galán who responded. "Yes, Lieutenant Shepard went against her brothers' orders after he shot those used as human shield. She refused to kill our own. While he would have been in his right to kill her for disobeying an order during combat, he let her and all others who refused, about 130 men and women turn back to report to whoever was in charge at the moment. He then proceeded with 30 marines to kill all those who remained. It was of this small group of which three quarters died, but they had wiped put 400.000 people with the gas. But we are moving away from the point why we are here. Personally, I think Captain Shepard would be a good candidate."

"Mindoir, Akuze and Torfan. He must have some serious emotional scars. Pass." Chekhov voiced his concern. He was not sure if someone with such a record would be a good choice.

"He might have scars, but he's a survivor." Hargreaves argued.

"I don't like it. And the Council definitely won't like it. We don't need someone like the Butcher, it's better that we give them our Lion, whatever my opinion about her might be." Seabrooke voiced her opinion. Despite her dislike for the female Shepard, the issues that the male sibling might have, had forced her to change her opinion.

"Where is he now?" the Chairman looked at Galán.

"We actually don't know. The outfit he is part of, has been of the grid for several weeks."

"So we have one sibling who is a known hero and another who could be considered a war criminal, who is part of a black ops program and who's current whereabouts that unknown? Do you really need to know my opinion about the matter?" Orelas questioned.

"Richard," Chairman Brandt looked at the Commandant, "I know you like John more than Jane, but I'm with Sylvia on this. The Council will look down on us when we send the John as our choice, Jane would be a much safer choice."

"So everybody agrees? Lieutenant-Commander Jane Shepard will be our SPECTRE?" the chairman looked at all the people in the room and when they agreed, the Chairman stood up, causing the others to rise up too. "Very well then, I'll tell Udina to inform the Council."

* * *

 **Author Note: So it's been a while since I've uploaded something. I've been way to busy the last couple of months, hence the delay. I was unhappy with the chapters that I had written before and all the free time I had I spend with rewritting everything. Giving more background.**

 **In this story Mankind has been in space for about 200 years longer than in the Me Canon. It has carved out a nice territory for itself and has experienced its fair share of unrest and war.**

 **I've changed the background of several characters, for example Joker was selected for the Normandy because he had real space combat experience, not because that stunt they made him do in the comics.**

 **Military ranks for the Alliance Armed forces will be a mix of American, Commonwealth ranks.**

 **Each species will have its own weaponry, not everyone using the same like in the Canon. These can be found on DeviantArt: nach77**

 **Description of Arcturus Station goes to Mal Cobb, author of 'Mass Effect: A Measure of Salvation'. If you're not reading this already, you should.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Central Park, New York City, North East Region, North American, Earth, Systems Alliance Core / May 27** **th** **2366**

A teenage couple strolled through Central Park, their hands intertwined. 16-year-old John Shepard looked at the girl walking next to him. Her long jet black hair moving with the soft breeze, her marble white skin was the opposite of his bronze tan. She caught his gaze with her icy blue eyes in which he could lose himself, and smiled. He loved her dimpled smile, despite rarely making an appearance, it would cause John's heart to skip a beat when it did. They had known each other since they were toddlers, their families having a friendship going back to the dark days following the Third World War, now known as 'the Great Reconstruction'. Throughout the years, their families would meet and both grew up together. It had only a year ago, that John had expressed his feelings for her, which she returned.

"Why are you thinking about?" Her refined Australian accent interrupted his thoughts.

"That you have to go already." the girl glanced at her omni-tool before looking back into his eyes.

"I know. But you know how my father gets." When she saw the disappointment on his face, she quickly gave him a kiss, before resting her forehead against his, "You'll see me next week again. I promise, John."

A bodyguard, standing on a respectable distance, cleared his throat, causing John give the man an angry glare. "It's time, Miss Kellan. Your father is on his way to the airport. And he expects us to meet him there."

The girl looked over his shoulder at the bodyguard, "I'll be right with you, Gabriel." she moved her hands to hold his face and gave him a kiss, which John gladly reciprocated.

"I love you, Eleanor." John mumbled against her lips.

"I love you too, John." She whispered, before the guard interrupted.

"We really need to go, Miss. Your father will not like it if we are late." Eleanor nodded, gave John one more kiss and move towards the park exit.

John watched as Eleanor entered a luxurious sky sedan and flew away. When the car was out of view, John made his way towards the father's skycar. The ping of his omni-tool alerted him of an incoming message. He smiled as he saw whom it came from.

[Eleanor N. Kellan, Robbins Island, Earth [to] John W. Shepard, New York City, Earth]

[ I really had a good time today. I miss you already. Look at this beautiful picture of us.]

[ File attached ] [ File Downloading ] [ Download Complete ]

John opened the attachment and saw the photo Eleanor had taken earlier. The photo showed the two of them, John stood behind Eleanor as they posed for the picture. John's arms were wrapped around her waist as her hands rested on his. The both of them smiled, while her head rested on his shoulder. John continued to read the message.

[ I love you. See you soon. X ]

John smirked as he read the last sentences of the message, he had already planned out how he was going to surprise her next week.

 **Alliance News Network, BREAKING NEWS: Kidnapping of Eleanor Kellan, Kellan-fortune heiress / June 1** **st** **2366**

It's been a day since the brutal kidnapping of Eleanor Nathalie Kellan, daughter of trillionaire Henry Kellan. On May 31st, while Mister Kellan was away for business, Eleanor Kellan disappeared from the family property on the family owned Robbins Island of the coast of Tasmania, Earth. Coinciding with the disappearance of Miss Kellan was a violent break-in. Eyewitnesses claim to have seen a group of armed men entering the property and several perpetrators appeared to be carrying heavy bags when they left the premises. At least 14 security guards were killed during the break-in and all data-servers were destroyed, yet nothing was reported as stolen. Law enforcement suspect that Miss Kellan was kidnapped by these mysterious men, yet there are currently no leads. Neither, Henry Kellan, nor any family member was available for comments.

The Kellan family rose to prominence in the days after the Third World War. Kellan Construction Company grew into a conglomerate during the Great Reconstruction under General De-Tierra after a merger with Benissa Mining Industries. In the centuries that followed, the conglomerate branched out into numerous industries, including but not limited to exploration and colonization, mineral extraction, biotic research, pharmaceuticals, space ship construction, …

The family has members in the boards of directors of companies such as MarsGene, Sirta Foundation, ExoGene Corporation, Noveria Development Corporation, Eldfell-Ashland Energy, and many more. The Kellan family is considered to be in the top 20 of richest and most influential families in Alliance Space.

The 16-year-old Eleanor Kellan lived with her father on the family property on Robbins Island. Sole daughter of Henry Kellan and Rachel Harewood, she lived a very sheltered life, away from the camera's, until recently. This is attributed to her father, who pulled back from public life after the death of his wife in childbirth. Despite her sheltered life, since last year she was often a guest at exclusive parties on Earth, Bekenstein, Elysium and Arcturus Station, where she represented her family's interests. A source close to the family confirmed that Miss Kellan had been romantically linked to John William Shepard, son of Marine Major Adrien Shepard, the famed First Contact War and Frontier Rebellion hero; grandson of Marine Lieutenant General Richard Shepard, commander of 5th Marine Division on Reach; and part of the Shepard family. John Shepard nor any Shepard Family member was available for comments.

 **New Dunant Space Port, in orbit above Nouveau Genève, Helvetia Province, Mindoir, Mindoir System, Alliance Frontier/ 20.12.2370**

Arcturus Naval Academy Midshipman Third Class John William Shepard stepped out of the docking tube into the busy primary terminal of New Dunant Space Port. John had been able to hitch a ride on the MSV Starhawk, a Clipper-class light freighter owned by the Grisanti Shipping Company, as it had left Elysium 27 hours ago. Sixty years ago, Grisanti Shipping had been the first to provide supplies to the then new colony of Mindoir, now it operated a fleet of 24 starships, ranging from the very fast, yet small Clipper-class freighters to Kowloon-Class freighters to the enormous Athabasca-class freight-transports. The entire terminal, having been decorated for the Christmas period, was filled with people either waiting to catch a ship leaving Mindoir or moving around towards the main building. While most were human, John spotted several aliens: a group of Turians who John recognized as being part of the Blue Suns, around 2 dozen Asari and two Salarians who were engaged in a heated conversation. As he walked through the doors leading to the main building, John acknowledged the two men belonging to Alliance Aerospace Force Security standing guard at either side of the doors. They were outfitted with the basic grey-colored Aerospace Force duty uniform with light chest armor and a sidearm, while they kept an eye on all the activity happening inside the terminal. John moved towards the space elevator as he checked his messages, having received several messages from fellow midshipmen wishing him a merry Christmas and Happy New Year. As he had to wait for another 45 minutes before the elevator went planet side, he decided to catch up on local gossip on the Mindoir news sites.

 **Groundside Mindoir Space Elevator facility, 5 km south of Nouveau Genève, Helvetia Province, Mindoir, Mindoir System, Alliance Frontier/ 20.12.2370**

John heard someone shout his name the moment he stepped through the doors of the tether facility, then seconds later something slammed into him. John was forced to take a step back and let his duffle bag glide out of his hand as he looked down at what, better saying who, had slammed into him and had thrown its arms around his torso. Looking up at him were deep grey eyes, identical to his, framed by a round face covered with shoulder-length blond hair.

"Hey." A little girl smiled at him.

"Hey there, little lady." John crouched down and give the girl a proper hug.

"Are you here to spend Christmas?" Katherine Shepard, John's 9-year-old sister, asked.

"Yes, I am." He stated, before looking over the girl's shoulder and seeing a young woman with curly, auburn colored long hair and large brown eyes approach them. His 17-year-old step-sister, Rebekah Vandermeersch, smiled as she approached him from a parked terrestrial Martian-made Amarr 'Duster' SUV. Letting go of his little sister, he greeted the young woman with a kiss on her cheek and muttered the word 'sis' as she embraced him. Katherine, or 'Kat' as her family called her, carried his duffle bag back to the SUV, refusing his help, proudly stating that she was old and strong enough to carry his heavy bag all by herself. John got behind the wheel and drove towards the Shepard residence, located in the most affluent suburb of Mindoir called Nieuw Ghent, right next to the massive Toblerone Lake. Taking the scenic route through the hills south of the city and following the Maas-Verdun River to end up west of the city, John and Rebekah chatted about how the past couple of weeks had been.

John told her a story about how a few fellow midshipmen had involuntarily involved him in a prank on another midshipman, which had gone bad. In the end, it had involved a Marine Gunnery Sergeant, two instructors and a Navy Captain. Most midshipmen involved had received an official reprimand, while John got off lucky with a month of helping Master Sergeant Larsson in the Academy Armory. Rebekah, or 'Bekah' as she only allowed John and her younger siblings to call her, told him about how the last couple of weeks at Nouveau Genève High School, how boring her classes had been since she was ahead on all of them, how her friends were planning on going to Bekenstein to celebrate New Year and how she was trying to persuade their parents to allow her to go. She told how her mother, Claire Vandermeersch-Shepard, a woman John cared more for than his own biological mother, had been working closely with the planetary administration to develop more towns on the other side of the massive Bourgogne Mountain Range. And how to connect the other side with the planetary capital and space tether. Their father, a former Marine Major, Adrien Shepard, had been training the local police forces and planetary defense force for the past weeks after being offered an instructor roll at the local police academy. Rebekah informed him that their father had gone into the New Black Forrest with a group of 16 to 19-year-old Scout Troopers, teaching them wilderness survival techniques and wouldn't be home for another day.

Arriving home after a drive of around an hour and half, John greeted his mother with a hug, a kiss on the cheek and a bouquet of light blue colored Arcadian Roses, her favorites. In turn she surprised him with making his favorite meal: a Mindoinese T-bone steak covered in Vektan Hot Sauce, with potatoes and Apple Sauce made from apples out of their garden. While John was busy eating, his mother sat next to him and explained him the detailed plan for a major expansion to the other side of the Bourgogne Mountains, which John took in effortlessly, enjoying a normal life after 2 years at the Academy.

 **Shepard Residence, Nieuw Gent Suburb, Nouveau Genève, Helvetia Province, Mindoir, Mindoir System, Alliance Frontier/ 22.12.2370, 05:30 Local Time**

The past two days had gone by in the blink of an eye. The day of his arrival he had spent with his family, catching up with everyone. The following day, John visited dozens of acquaintances and invited friends over. It was in the evening that he was surprised when he opened the door. There stood his girlfriend, having come over to surprise him and spent some time together. The surprise was total since Lauren had previously told him that she would be spending the holiday period with her parents and siblings on the Citadel visiting family.

John woke at 05:30, the military routine that had been drilled into him since he could remember, didn't stop the moment John had some leave. Snuggled into his left side, was the body of his girlfriend, Lauren Kyra Sutherland, an arm draped across his chest, and her head resting on his shoulder. Carefully lifting up Lauren's head and arm, John got out of bed, dressed in PT gear he had brought with him and proceeded to leave his bedroom, but not before taking one last look at his sleeping girlfriend as her blond hair covered her face.

John walked through the house, the hallways dim lit and the rooms silent as the rest household slept, he thought back on how he had met Lauren. Shortly after the disappearance of Eleanor, John fell in a downward spiral of depression, no longer caring about anything, often coming home drunk and/or high. It took about two months before his father had enough of his behavior and moved the entire Shepard-Vandermeersch family as far away from Earth as possible, stopping for several weeks in Arcturus Station, followed by a month and a half on Reach before finally arriving on Mindoir where he was offered a job by an old friend with whom he had served during the Frontier Rebellion, settling into a house in the wealthy Nieuw Gent suburb. John and Rebekah were enrolled into Nouveau Genève High School while Katherine went to the Nieuw Ghent local Kindergarten. During their third week on Mindoir, John and Rebekah were dragged along with their parent to a fancy social gathering which the planetary governor and his family, including his 15-year-old daughter, also attended. That evening John Shepard met Lauren Kyra Sutherland for the first time, yet didn't give the blonde much attention while he brooded in the room's corner. Rebekah however looked up at the governor's daughter and was happy that she made a new friend.

At Nouveau Genève High School, John had become a new sensation, as he was a good-looking, athletic 16-year-old who originated from Earth. Many times, students came up to him and asked him questions about Earth and life in the Inner Colonies, much to his annoyance and frustration as everyone was trying to get to know and befriend him. John kept to himself, thus only adding to the mystery he was. About a week after his arrival somebody had found out that he had previously been romantically involved to the missing Eleanor Kennan, everybody's interest reached new heights, only annoying him further. His frustration had reached its breaking point when the local school bully, named Flinch, had thrown a biotiball at the unsuspecting John, breaking his nose and had made a rude comment about Eleanor afterwards, saying that she probably disappeared because he was a whining little kid; something in him had snapped and John attacked the biotic bully. Despite Flinch advantage in a fight with his biotics and larger body mass, John had trained since before he could even walk. The fight was over in seconds as the only way to negate biotics if you didn't have your own, was to prevent the communication between brain and body. John knocked Flinch out cold and then proceeded to pummel the unconscious bully. It had been the intervention of Lauren that stopped John from beating Flinch within an inch of death. Lauren, despite being the school's most popular girl and daughter of the planet's governor hadn't give him much attention, yet was a friend of Rebekah. This was the only reason that John stopped from killing the school bully.

Afterwards, an internal review by the school had found Flinch as the instigator, yet suspended John for 2 weeks. Following the incident, John had become a social pariah, only Lauren concerned herself over him, it had taken months before she had formed some cracks in the massive walls that John had built to protect himself. At the end of the year, Lauren and John had become an item, despite John's dislike of the objectification of their relationship. Finally opening up again, his popularity had skyrocketed and even eclipsed Lauren's own when they graduated the following year. Since John attended Arcturus Naval Academy for the past two years Lauren had often visited Arcturus Station to spend time with him after months of being apart.

After writing a message on a datapad saying that he was out for a run, John pulled the backdoor behind him shut and ran along the western coast line of the Lake, away from the houses.

John was 6,5 km away from Nieuw Gent and completely alone when the sky lit up and an explosion was heard. John watched in horror as pieces of an Alliance Navy Frigate fell from orbit into the Lake. Looking from where the frigate had crashed to the city, he saw that dozens of fires were burning, while he could hear several explosions. Then hundreds of small shuttles, supported by what looked like gunships and fast-moving fighter jets filled the sky, all descending on the city. Despite feeling his muscles complaining from the previous exercise, John ran back to his house, hoping to safe his loved ones.

 **Intensive Care, DuPontier Military Hospital, Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream, Systems Alliance Core / 24.12.2370, The Burning of Mindoir + 2 days**

"Tell me doctor, how bad is it?" An older man in a Marine Corps Service uniform stared with concern through the glass wall, looking into the hospital room. Within the room, on a hospital bed lay his 20-year-old grandson, John Shepard, comatose. The hospital hallway was filled with members of the Shepard family, most of them still in the uniform of their respective branch, be it Marines, Army, Navy or Aerospace Force. In the room with his grandson, was his wife, Geneviève, his eldest granddaughter Jane and his former daughter-in-law Hannah Sevchenko-Shepard. On a large monitor covering the south wall of the room, a scan of his body showed numerous fractures and wounds, and displayed his heartrate, blood pressure, oxygen levels, temperature, …

The doctor looked up from his datapad at the man standing next to him, his eyes moved over the marine officer's black uniform, stopping to look at the wall of ribbons on his left chest, travelling upwards to look at the three stars on his shoulders, showing he was a Lieutenant General, before finally resting on the grey eyes the general shared with the young man comatose in the hospital bed and dozens of male men currently present in the hallway.

Clearing his throat, the doctor spoke. "General Shepard, your grandson has suffered multiple severe injuries. He has suffered serious head-trauma, numerous deep cuts, lacerations, a broken Tibia, we had to pry shrapnel from his right shoulder, 3 gunshot wounds to his torso, and so on. It was a miracle that he was still walking when they found him." The doctor noticed that several men and women who he could only related to his patient and the man in front of him, had moved closer to hear his verdict. It took two minutes to explain to the general and the others who had now crowed around them to situation Midshipman Third Class John Shepard found him in.

"How long until he wakes up?" Somebody at the back of the group asked, the concern clear in her voice.

"That depends, sometimes it takes days, months, years even…." The general clearly wasn't happy with this news as the doctor could see a flash of anger in the man's eyes, neither were the others since most male members had the same reaction, a flash of anger and annoyance went through their eyes. Feeling that the situation would only grow worse with his continued presence, the doctor excused himself, mumbling an apology of having to see another patient in a nearby ward, before hurrying out of the hallway.

The general stood there for 5 minutes, staring at his grandson before the sound of a message made him look at his omni-tool, after reading the message, he glanced one more time into the room at his grandson, catching the eyes of his wife before signaling his attaché and guards standing at the end of the hallway and left for the military HQ, entrusting the recovery of his to the care of grandson into the hand of the men and women of DuPontier Military Hospital.

 **Military HQ, Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream, Systems Alliance Core / 24.12.2370, The Burning of Mindoir + 2 Days**

As Marine Lieutenant-General Richard Shepard was walking through the hallways of military headquarters towards his office, he encountered a group of four Naval Special Operators who had just come back from debriefing their CO, among them SAN Lieutenant-Commander David Anderson, an N7 with Special Reconnaissance who gained renown during the Frontier Rebellion. The Naval Special Operators had been attached to the responding Plantagenet Carrier Group and had been one of the first units on the ground. The men saluted, which Shepard returned but kept up his pace, his head clearly occupied with his grandson.

"Lieutenant-Commander Anderson, walk with me." Anderson complied and quickly fell into pace next to the general. The general's guards and attaché kept a respectable distance while the general and Anderson talked. Anderson didn't know who to start the conversation so inquired about the condition of the young ANA Midshipman he had found on Mindoir.

"How is your grandson, sir?"

"In a coma, but he'll pull through. Us Shepards always do. Now tell me how you found him, Commander."

"I wrote it all down in my after-action report, sir." This clearly was the wrong reaction as it caused the general to stop dead in his tracks, and made a 90° turn to look at Anderson, fury written all over his face.

"I don't give a damn about your report!" The general's outburst made a couple of heads turn. Knowing that this conversation should be held in private, they moved into a meeting room which was filled with low level technicians, whom the general ordered to clear the room, while his guards waiting outside. Once the room was empty, he continued. "Tell me yourself. How did you find him?"

Clearing his throat, Anderson started talking "We were send out to investigate an Alliance Personnel Emergency Beacon in the Nouveau Genève suburbs of Nieuw Gent. When we, me and my team that is, arrived at the outskirts, it was a disaster. Dozens of buildings were smothering ruins, crashed vehicles and bodies everywhere. When we moved down the streets, taking out a few slavers along the way, we found bodies of both colonists and Bats. It seemed that the Bats had taken by surprise when they were killing prisoners. Among the bodies was the body of your son, he was wearing light body armor and had an _Avenger_ in his hand. It seemed like he sacrificed himself so someone else could live. Later we would learn that that someone was be his son, your grandson." The general remained stone-faced hearing the way his son had died.

"Yes, that sounds like Adrien." Despite having had a big falling out with his eldest son more than a decade ago over his divorce from Hannah, which hadn't been resolved at the time of his son's death, he still loved his son immensely. "Continue."

"We continued to search the houses, we found more death slavers and dozens of death civilians, most of them gunned down. It was then that we heard a hoarse voice calling out a name. At first I couldn't make out what it was saying, but it became clearer and clearer. The voice called out for someone called Lauren. It was then that we came across your grandson, as he stumbled into our view. He looked extremely battered, bare-chested, his body covered in blood, an _Avenger_ held loosely in his hands. He just ignored us, as he shifted through the ruins, turning over bodies to look at their faces. Then suddenly he cried out, he sunk through his knees and clutched the body of a girl around his age against his chest." Anderson briefly looked away.

General Richard Shepard's thoughts were solely focused on his grandson. It seemed as if John's bad luck hadn't stopped. First the messy divorce of his parents, which had become a fight between both parents and a lengthy court-procedure; then the mysterious disappearance of John's girlfriend, and now the death of his father, step-mother, step-siblings and his girlfriend, and 2 siblings either taken as slave or just gone. It would be a while before John would recover from this.

Anderson continued. "The sound he made, sir, that wasn't human. I've seen my fair share of horrors, but in my long career, I have never heard a man make such sound." Anderson looked at Richard, somewhere asking if the general knew why his grandson made such an inhuman sound.

"The girl he was searching for and found death was his girlfriend, he told me he was going to ask her to marry him. Lauren Kyra Sutherland, nice local girl, daughter of Mindoir's governor. It wasn't the first time that he lost someone who he loved." Anderson's eyebrows shot upward. "Do you remember the disappearance of the Kellan girl?" Anderson nodded, the case was still unsolved, the girl had never been found. "Eleanor Kellan was John's girlfriend at the time of her disappearance." Richard stayed quiet for a while, letting the information sink in.

'How can someone so young experience so much loss.' Anderson thought to himself.

"I think John was really in love with that girl, and then she just disappeared, without a trace. It appeared if she never existed. It took him 2 years and moving to the Frontier to get over her, when he fell in love again, he asked Lauren to marry him. I personally think John did that because he didn't want to loss someone he loved again. And now he lost so many people he loved." Both men remained quiet after the revelation.

After a long silence, Anderson continued. "So your grandson held the girl to his chest and was crying. After several minutes of watching and making sure it wasn't an ambush, two of my men carefully approached him. They had their weapons slightly raised, ready to respond to anything. He didn't even look at them as they approached him. He was not responsive when they introduced themselves. They stood next to him for about two minutes, trying to get through to him. When they tried to have him let go of the body, everything went wrong."

"What happened?"

"One of my men tried to pry the girl from his arms, John reacted. My man, who was the hand-to-hand specialist of my unit, was disarmed and unconscious within seconds, the second didn't fare much better. He was taken down as fast as the first. Your grandson used him as a human shield, as he pointed a handgun at us. I don't know who taught him those moves, but they sure as hell don't teach those at the Academy, sir."

"My son taught him. He had been teaching him everything since John was born."

Anderson took the explanation for what it was and continued. "Yet it weren't his fighting skills that shocked me the most, sir, it were his eyes. When he stood there with that handgun pointed at us, he looked me straight in the eyes. They weren't the eyes of a twenty-year old I saw," Anderson stopped, looking uncomfortable bringing back the memory. He shook his head, as if he wanted the image he had just described to disappear from his mind and swallowed hard before speaking again. "I don't know what he had seen and been through, but with all that happened, I can only imagine."

"How did you manage to defuse the situation, Commander?"

"I kept talking, put him at ease. After about 10 minutes, he let my man go, dropped the handgun and then he just collapsed. We had called a medivac when a couple of my men had found a heavily wounded survivor. Your grandson and the other survivor we transported back to the SSV Plantagenet in orbit. Twenty minutes later the city was flattened by the thermobaric bomb."

Shepard remained quiet as he absorbed the information. Shepard moved his hands to his face, his index fingers pointed upwards, resting on his nose, while he rested his head on his thumbs. The room was silent for several minutes, before Shepard rose from his chair and put out his hand towards the Lieutenant-Commander, Anderson followed suit and shook the general's hand. "Thank you, Commander, for the clarification."

"I was my pleasure sir." Richard Shepard started to leave the room, while Anderson let himself fall into the chair and sighed.

"Oh, Commander," Anderson looked up and saw the general standing in the doorway.

"Yes, sir?"

"Your men? Are they okay?"

"Yes, sir. Apart from a couple of bruises and two bruised egos, they are okay."

The general nodded at that. "Good, give your men my thanks."

"I'll do that sir." And Richard Shepard walked out of the room completely.

 **Meeting Room 5, Alliance Bureau of Investigation Headquarters, Arcturus Station, Arcturus Stream, Systems Alliance Core / 29.04.2371, the Burning of Mindoir + 4 months**

Midshipman Third Class John Shepard looked around the room. Meeting Room Number 5 in the main building of the Alliance Bureau of Investigation Headquarters had the same look as any meeting room inside an official Alliance facility. The same greyish color on the walls, a brown wooden table and slightly uncomfortable chairs. On the walls hung the flag of the Systems Alliance, the seal of the ABI and a picture of the current Prime-Minister. In front of him sat 3 Alliance Officials, each one belonging to a different agency, Senior Special Agent Rasleen Lorimalanah represented the Alliance Bureau of Investigation, Chief Special Agent Rafael Vizcaya represented the Alliance Intelligence Agency and the last one was Captain Kekoa Kahoku, present for the Military Intelligence Directorate.

"And what happened when you heard the explosions?" Special Agent Lorimalanah asked, looking up from the datapad on which she was making notes as he talked.

"The moment I heard the explosions I ran back. I pushed my body as much as I could. By the time I arrived, everything was burning. The house was a smothering ruin yet I found nobody at home. Slavers were driving survivors in a group, I managed to get the drop on a Bat who was wandering off. I slit his throat and took his equipment, a shield generator, a M-3 Predator pistol and a Batarian knock-off from a M-8 Avenger. I managed to take out a few of them with improvised weapons, yet I was captured. They put me together with the other residents, I recognized most of them as my neighbors, yet none were my family. I was beaten and tortured, they demanded to know who else was there, since they had also lost contact with others in Nieuw Gent. When I answered that I didn't know they started killing my neighbors. It turned out that it was my father. He ambushed them and killed most of them before he was killed. In the confusion, me and several others managed to escape. While I tried to take them with me, they ran the other way and were killed later on. The firefight that my father had started killed most of the slavers, and unfortunately all the people they had captured were killed by the few remaining slavers just minutes after my father died."

"What did you do then?" Special Agent Lorimalanah continued her line of questioning. The two intelligence officers let her be while they took in as much information as possible.

John stared down at his hands, trying to remember what he did afterwards. For minutes the room was silent, as John could only hear his own breathing. Finally he looked up and his eyes met Captain Kahoku's.

He shook his head and spoke. "I don't remember. I remember being hit, kicked, slashed and stabbed, electrocuted with a stun baton. I can still feel the slaver's blood coming out of his mouth and him falling over. I can still hear the chaos, the screams, the gunfire and then the silence. But after that, it's all a big hole…." John emptied the glass of water standing in front of him into his throat. Everybody stayed quiet while John took his time. "But sometimes, in my dreams I experience flashes, I see myself holding the body of my father, shooting a couple of slavers, cutting a Batarian his eyes out, I can see … I can see myself holding her…."

"Holding who?" Vizcaya asked, curiosity in his voice as he heard something he hadn't heard before.

"Lauren." John met Vizcaya's eyes, his face set in stone as he refused to let them see his pain. "Lauren is… was my girlfriend. We had been together for about 2 years. She wasn't even supposed to be here."

"What do you mean with that Midshipmen?" Captain Kahoku questioned. The captain had previously worked together with several members of the Shepard family and had established a long-lasting friendship with the now-deceased Adrien Shepard.

"She was supposed to celebrate Christmas and the new year together with her parents at her aunt's place on the Citadel, yet she had decided last minute to stay and celebrate with me and my family. She wasn't even supposed to be on Mindoir."

The rest of the debriefing took only half an hour before the three intelligence officers were content with what they had been told. While the intelligence officers were gathering their things after concluding the debriefing John thought back on what happened the past 4 months.

He had remained comatose for four days since what the media had started calling 'The Burning of Mindoir', before waking up with his grandmother, Geneviève Shepard, holding his hand. Following the doctors' advice, his family gave him several days before telling him the bad news about what happened on Mindoir after he was transported to the responding _Plantagenet Carrier Group_. He knew that his father and Lauren had both died in Nieuw Gent, yet he was clueless about the fate of his mother and siblings. Claire Vandermeersch-Shepard and the 2-year-old Michael Shepard were both killed during the Nouveau Genève Sport Stadium Massacre along with 58.000 Mindoians. The Massacre had started when the Alliance had destroyed the Slaver ships in orbit, yet had been unable to enter Nouveau Genève because of heavy resistance. The 9-year-old Katherina was one of the 1586 girls and young woman taken by the slavers. Only the status of Rebekah was uncertain. It was suspected that she was among the tens of thousands who died when the thermonuclear device left by the slavers exploded, flattened the entire city and killed close to a 100.000 people.

John spend the next week in his room, refusing to see anybody despite family and friends from Earth and the Academy trying to visit him. The only people he allowed in his room were the nurses and his doctor, not for the lack of trying by his biological mother, grandmother, sister and younger cousins. His grandfather and other male members of the Shepard family understood his desire and never even tried, having come to the understanding that John needed time along to process all what had happened. On day number 8, John walked out of the hospital room and started his revalidation. Four months of intensive revalidation made John return to his previous condition and had the doctors give him a clean bill of health. Next week, John would start attending ANA again, having many classes to catch up on.

Special Agent Lorimalanah had left the room by the time John's thoughts stopped wandering, yet the two others remained, both whispered and occasionally glanced at John, before walking towards the door.

At that moment, John rose from this chair, straightened his uniform and asked.

"Captain Kahoku, can I ask a question? Sir?" Both men stopped, turned to looked at each other, and then at him. Captain Kahoku nodded and gave his permission to speak.

"Speak up, Midshipman."

"What do I need to do to be part of the teams who strike at the Batarians, sir?" Again, both men traded looks, before turning their attention on John. Captain Kahoku looked John straight in the eyes. They were having a small staring contest, while it only lasted a couple of second it seemed like hours to John.

"As a midshipman at Arcturus Naval Academy and a member of the Shepard family, you should know that the Systems Alliance is not at war with the Batarian Hegemony, as such the Alliance does not take any _sanctioned_ aggressive actions against Batarian forces, … But if such actions were to take place, only Special Operations Units falling under JSOC, preferably with N6 and N7 designations, would be able to complete any such operations. However, since you are still a midshipman and that such actions are not the _official_ policy of the Alliance, it is at the moment no concern to you, Midshipmen."

"Yes, sir!" John responded, before gathering his things.

"On a personal note, Shepard…" John looked back up to see that the Captain stood by the door. "I'll be looking forward to seeing you when they will be of a concern to you." Then the Captain gave John a quick nod and both men turned to leave the room.

 **Administration, Arcturus Naval Academy, Arcturus Stream, Systems Alliance Core / 29.04.2371, the Burning of Mindoir + 5 months**

John Shepard sat motionless in the wooden chair. His back straight and eyes front while he waited to be called into the office of superintendent Vice-Admiral Rai. The past weeks had been hard as John was spending all his free time learning everything his fellow classmates had learned in the past 4 months on top of what they were learning now. It was going to be a hard process, but John did not stand alone, he had the possibility to call upon dozens of classmates and professors who had offered their help. Just 30 minutes earlier, he had been called to the superintendent's office while in the middle of the early 21st century history class. The professor had been talking about how the tension between the United States of America under its 45th president and the People's Republic of China skyrocketed and almost led to a war, which was only adverted when the American president was impeached for numerous reasons and together with his cabinet trialed for high treason among other things.

The office door slit open and John jumped at attention, but it wasn't the person he had expected to see who came through the door. Standing in front of him was Jack Harper, a man John had seen many times in the past. After all, Jack Harper had been Lauren's favorite uncle and a good friend of John's grandfather and the family patriarch, Richard Shepard. While John didn't know what Mister Harper's exact job was, Lauren had told him vaguely that her uncle worked in the intelligence service, it might have been for the Alliance, or that he had a private intelligence firm, this was never specified, not to her or to him. Richard Shepard had confided in John that Harper worked for a joint AIA/MID/JSOC operation, but had been unwilling to go further into the details.

"John, how good to see you again." The first thing John noticed were Harper's cybernetic eyes, three small blue dots circled around a black pupil. He wore a black tailor-made suit with white and orange trim, even to John who didn't know much about clothing, it was clear that the suit had cost several thousands of credits.

Not knowing how to start a conversation, John did the first thing that came into his mind. "My condolences for your loses, sir." Extending his hand.

Harper shook it, before he lay his hand on John's shoulder "I appreciate that John. But while Lauren was my favorite niece, she was your girlfriend, so I must offer my condolences to you to. Not only for Lauren, but also for your parents and siblings."

John acknowledged them with a small nod, yet Harper continued. "Your father and mother were dear friends of mine and will be dearly missed. If you ever need something, do not hesitate to contact me, John." This took John slight aback as his father had made his dislike of Harper all too well known before his death. His omni-tool pinged as Harper added his contact info to John. "But I'll have to leave you. I have another meeting I absolutely have to attend." Before disappearing out of the office, Harper briefly turned around, catching John's attention as he walked into the Vice-Admiral's room. "John," he waited for John to turn around and look at him before continuing, "I'm sure that you'll do great things if you put your mind to it. You have a lot of potential, you only have to find it and use it." Before disappearing.

"Midshipman Shepard." John looked at the superintendent of Arcturus Naval Academy as the doors slit shut behind him.


	3. Chapter 3

**McGarrett Avenue, Illyria, Elysium, Vetus System, Systems Alliance Space / Remembrance Day + 1, November 12** **th** **2375, 09:56 Elysium Central Time**

Alliance Navy Sub-Lieutenant Jane Shepard ducked to take cover behind the burned-out wreck of what once used to be a luxurious skycar as it was hit a dozens of small mass-accelerated metal pellets fired by Batarian and Turian-made small arms.

The assault on Elysium had started on the evening of Remembrance Day, the day when Humanity remembered all those who had died in any conflict, they had taken the Alliance forces on Elysium off-guard. Small teams had arrived in the days and weeks leading up to November 11th. And at 23:45 local Time, they had detonated dozens of explosives and had killed hundreds of high-ranking civilians and military officers, creating a mass panic among the local population and millions of tourists, thus disrupting much of the coordination for a quick, armed military response. The navy units and orbital defense stations in orbit had been taken out rather quickly since most of the fleets guarding Elysium had reacted to several of distress calls from colonies under attack in neighboring systems. Air Force fighters, gunships and troop transports had been taken out by hostile fighters and gunships. They had quickly established air-superiority which they then used to bomb military bases and planetary defenses across the planet.

Sub-Lieutenant Jane Shepard, recently graduated from Arcturus Military Academy, had been posted on Elysium to act as a military liaison between Alliance Military Command on Elysium and the civil government. Since nobody of a higher-rank or with more knowledge could be found in the immediate area, Jane had quickly taken the initiative e in the defense of the Elysian capital. Within an hour, she had thousands of military service members, local police and militia under her command. Having armed themselves with weapons found in the planetary defense force armories and police stations, she had placed units all across the city as they prepared to defend the city against tens of thousands of raiders, slavers, pirates, mercenaries coming out of the Terminus Systems. Among the thousands were, Batarian soldiers, Vorcha and Krogan representing the Blood Pack, the all-Asari Illium Branch of the Eclispe, and the most infamous of all, a group with as symbol a Krogan skull with a Turian bird-of-prey hovering above it, the symbol of Terminus Warlord Elanos Haliat.

Using everything she had been taught at AMA, she had established several defensive lines throughout the city. The lines were mostly made up off wrecked cars and other large objects. About 400 men and women of the Planetary Guard were escorting most civilians to the bunkers in the Hera Mountains by means of the underground high-speed rails. Four hours ago, the outer defensive line had fallen as an artillery barrage, followed by an en-mass infantry charge, supported by armor and gunships had overwhelmed the defenders. Most defenders had been able to pull back to the second defensive line in a rather organized fashion, while the ones who remained had put up a heroic last stand, holding the defenses for at least 25 more minutes. Yet now, for the third time in an hour, infantry supported by heavy armor crept closer to the barricade, while gunships flew above them, firing air-to-ground missiles and their guns at the barricades and its defenders. Jane could spot that Haliat's own troops would be the ones leading this assault, supported by a horde of Vorcha and Krogan of the Bloodpack and a unit if Asari Commandos from the Illium-branch of the Eclipse.

 **McGarrett Avenue, Illyria, Elysium, Vetus System, Systems Alliance Space / Remembrance Day + 1, November 12** **th** **2375, 13:02 ECT**

Sub-Lieutenant Jane Shepard could hear the high-pitched sound of artillery shells, fired by Batarian artillery. All along the third and last defensive line before the Illyrian city center, the shells caused casualties among the defenders.

She was mentally preparing herself to make her final stand together with the men and woman to her left and right.

In the distance she could see infantry, made up out of Blood Pack Krogan and Vorcha, Humans, Batarians and Turians from Elanos's Terminus dominion, Asari mercenaries and Batarian External Forces, preparing themselves to move up. Jane looked around her, dozens of soldiers, marines, sailors, planetary guards, police officers and civilians were all preparing themselves to give their lives for their city, colony and/or for the Systems Alliance and what it stood for. Two and a half hours ago, the second defensive line had fallen due to massive bombardment and again a rush of Vorcha and Krogan mercenaries, hundreds had died trying to hold them off, yet it was futile. Jane had been one of the last ones to make it to the third and last defensive line before the avenue reached the Illyrian city center. Now, these defenses were about to be attacked, yet this time, Jane was planning on standing her ground. She had done enough running, this time she planned on holding them off as long as she could, taking as many with her before she was taken down. She just hoped that they had bought the Army Corps of Engineers enough time to reinforce the RIU Elysian Planes resort enough to withstand the onslaught and that Alliance forces would arrive on time to relieve the besieged planet.

She checked the M-8 Avenger assault rifle she had picked up earlier from a death IPD SWAT officer, before briefly tapping into her biotic reserves, shrouding her body in a blue-purple glow for a brief second. A Turian-made Pilum-53G fighter-bomber flew over and released several bombs on building that only seconds before had been occupied by several dozen of defenders. Most service members didn't even look up as the building collapsed, yet most of the planetary guards, civilians and half of the police officers, not used to the violence of war, stared in horror as one man ran out of the burning building, his skin melting off, before dropping dead a couple meters further.

 **24 minutes later**

Jane send a shockwave the moment a Batarian External Forces soldier climbed over the barricade, ripping his legs from under him and throwing him 30 meter back, right on top of a group of Vorcha. She took the few seconds of time to take a breath and look around her. All along the line, Alliance service members and civilians were being overwhelmed. Dozens of gaps had been created, through which hundreds of hostiles were pouring in, some going deeper into the city while others took care of the defenders, who were desperately trying to hold the line, but were failing. There were just to many attackers pouring in to stem the tide. Jane fired off a burst, hitting a Turian in the head. Getting up, she planned to rush to the help of a EPDF soldier who was getting mauled by a group of Vorcha. Yet before she could do anything, the woman was killed by a shot to the head, thus ending her suffering. Dozen of shot took out dozens of hostile, Shepard looked around, but couldn't find the place from where they were fired. Then her comm-piece sprung into action.

[ _God damn Mara, why couldn't you just be smart?_ ] a heavily scrambled voice sounded in her ear. Despite the voice scrambler, Jane knew who was in the other side. There was only one person in the galaxy who used that nickname for her and he was supposed to be on the other side of the galaxy. _'How the hell is he here? He was supposed to be on Altaïr Prime'_

[ _John? How did you…_ ] before she could get out another word, her brother responded.

[ _Shut up and listen. 15 meters to you left is a grey terrestrial SUV. Our scout drone says it's still functional. Get in and get your ass to_ _the_ _ultimate fallback position.]_ John Shepard ordered, he was using the voice their mother used whenever she was angry, annoyed or both. Jane called it 'the commander-voice'. So Jane did as told and looked around, she saw the SUV, it appeared to be still functional, only having several bullet holes, despite all the carnage happening around.

[ _I can't just…]_ She tried to protest, not wanting to abandon the others.

[ _You can and you WILL! The whole defense of this city was your plan, and they need to ALIVE to carry it out. You took up the burden of commanding, so live up to it. Now get your ass out of there. We'll stay behind and cover you!]_ Knowing he was right, she did as told. Jane prepared herself, she got up,raised a barrier to protect herself from any gunfire and ran towards the SUV. Hostiles were dropping around her, their bodies filled with holes the size of golfballs. _'Holy fuck, he's using anti-material rifles.'_ Taking cover behind the SUV, she slowly opened the door, got in and started the ignition. The engine roared to life and in seconds, the SUV shot forward as she hit the gas. As she sped away towards the resort located she could only look in the rear v ew camera projected on the dashboard as the defenses had been completely overrun.

 **RIU Elysian Planes Resort aka 'Fortress RIU', Cliffs of Achillion, 5 km east of Illyria, Elysium, Vetus System, Systems Alliance Space / Remembrance Day + 2, November 13** **th** **2375, 06:30 ECT**

Sub-Lieutenant Jane Shepard looked up exhausted at the sky. Dozens of batarian ships were falling from orbit, breaking apart as they entered atmosphere to finally crash into the Seas of Salamis, while the sun rose over the sea. She wasn't the only one who watched the spectacle. Thousands of civilians and service members watched from the Cliffs of Achillion as other ships breached the clouds all around them. Small cylindrical objects were launched from the hulls of dozens of Planetary Assault Cruisers, Jane gave a tired smile as people around her started sheering at the fast moving objects, while the engines of Alliance fighter jets roared as they passed over the Resort in the direction of the city. Everybody knew what this meant. The Alliance had arrived and Orbital Drop Assault Marines were dropping in.

A vid suddenly filled every omni-tool and screen in the Resort and a voice came out of every loudspeaker.

[ _Attention citizens of the Systems Alliance, this is Admiral Badenov, commanding officer of the Alliance Eight Fleet. We are here to drive back this foul scum and make them pay. The 'Devil's Own' are dropping in to help. We have Fourth, Eleventh, and Twenty-Second fleets in system at the moment with 2 more fleets under way. To inhabitants if Elysium I say, stay strong. Help will arrive shortly. To you cowardly scum, fear our revenge. Badenov out.]_

The moment Admiral Badenov finished speaking, hundreds of Orbital Insertion Assault Pods crashed into the ground in and around the resort. Out of the pods came men and woman displaying the emblem of the legendary 13th Marine Orbital Drop Assault Division, led by General Petrovsky. Minutes later, bigger capsules crashed in the grounds, revealing dozen of Titans. While Jane did't recognize their unit emblem, her IFF recognized them as being part of 2nd Titan Division of the infamously ruthless 13th Marine Expeditionary Force. The raiders, slavers,pirates and mercenaries who had tried to attack the resort were now fleeing towards the dropships, but they were gunned down as marines and Titan walkers opened fire. Alliance A-73 Mantis gunships and F-61 Trident multi-role combat aircraft reduced their vehicles and shuttles into burning wrecks, while F-59 Hornet Interceptors engaged fighters, gunships and fleeing dropships/shuttles.

 **Alliance News Network, BREAKING NEWS: VETUS SYSTEM UNDER ATTACK / November 13** **th** **, 2375**

{A map of the Alliance it shown, with the image slowly zooming in to the Vetus System}

The last 2 days have been tragic for the Alliance worlds of Elysium and Reach in the Vetus System. On the evening of Remembrance Day, a fleet of several hundred ships out of the Terminus attacked the twin planets of Reach and Elysium.

{pictures of both planets are shown}

While most of the Alliance Fourth Fleet guarding the Vetus system was away, responding to dozens of distress calls of raiding parties in neighboring systems, a coalition of dozens of groups out of the Terminus system and the Batarian Hegemony attacked. At 23:45 ECT, hundreds of bombs went of across Elysium, killing thousands. Among the death were many high-ranking officers and civilian officials, thus creating utter chaos among the local population and leaving out a coordinated response.

{pictures of the chaos on Elysium}

The few remaining ships in orbit above Elysium were no match for the armada and were completely destroyed together with the Orbital Defense Stations. Troopships landed on the planet and quickly commenced their assault. About 80.000 attackers landed just west of the Elysian capital of Illyria.

{picture of Navy Sub-Lieutenant Jane Shepard}

Alliance forces and hundreds of civilians rallied to the banner of Alliance Navy Sub-Lieutenant Jane Shepard. Quickly creating multiple defensive lines, they managed to hold off the attackers, while millions of civilians and tourists were evacuated to the shelters in the Hera mountains. Despite being outnumbered 20:1, they held off for a day and a half. Slowly retreating to other defensive lines. They made their final stand at the RIU Elysian Planes Resort east of Illyria, which a unit of the Army Corps of Engineers managed to turn into a fortress.

{pictures of the Resort before the attack, during and after}

It was here, that Lieutenant Jane Shepard managed to hold a breach, despite overwhelming odds.

{pictures of SAN Sub-Lieutenant Shepard standing in the breached resort wall, with her left fist glowing with biotics and shooting with her trademark M-5 Phalanx handgun, her red hair waving in the wind and surrounded by death Batarians and Krogan.}

She managed to hold until reinforcements arrived. The first reinforcements were Planetary Assault Cruisers belonging to the Eleventh Fleet, from which the legendary 13th Marine Orbital Drop Assault Division, supported by the 2nd Titan Division of the 13th Marine Expeditionary Force, who dropped first onto Elysium, they were quickly followed by the remaining units of the 200.000 strong 13th Marine Expeditionary Force. The marines completely decimated the Terminus and Batarian forces on the ground, while the Fourth, Eight, Eleventh, Nineteenth, Twentieth and Twenty-second Fleets dealt with any hostile presence in the System.

On the planet of Reach, Alliance military forces were able to prevent a large-scale planetary invasion. A delay of 10 minutes between the attack on Elysium and attack on Reach allowed military forces around Reach to prepare. The planet was on DEFCON 2 since the message of the attack on Elysium was received. Alliance Navy engaged Terminus/Batarian ships, will Orbital Defense Stations and Planetary Cannons fired upon the hostile ships. Air Force fighters scrambled to engage hostile fighters, gunships while hostile transports tried to land. Despite enormous resistance from Alliance forces, which saw thousands of casualties on both sides, hostile forces managed to land about 250.000 ground troops, with the biggest concentration in the North Eastern Hemisphere. Alliance Army, Marine and Planetary Guard units moved from all across the planet to engage the Hegemony/Terminus Ground troops. Leading the counter charge was the 5th Marine Expeditionary Force under Lieutenant-General Richard Shepard, supported by the 17th Field Army and 4th Reach Planetary Guard Division as the engage 165.000 hostile in the North Eastern Hemisphere for the next 2 days. Tenacious close quarters battles happened in the large industrial zones of the mineral rich North-East. Both side saw heavy casualties while Air force and Planetary Guard air units engaged hostile fighters, gunships and shuttles. Neither side really gaining the advantage, until 13th Marine Orbital Drop Assault from the 13th MEF led by General Petrovsky, dropped right in the hostile defensive line. This turned the tide and the 5th MEF pushed through, inflicting a massive amount of casualties of Hegemony/Terminus ground forces. In the meantime, the Fourth fleet, had returned from the diversionary attacks on neighboring systems, and together with the Eight fleet engaged hostile forces around Reach. No quarter was given during the ground battle or the naval battle as surrendering Hegemony/Terminus troops were executed on the spot. When the fighting winded down, the 13th MEF quickly embarked and made their way to liberate Elysium.

While casualty reports are still coming in, an estimated 47.000 Alliance service members lost their lives and another 72.000 are wounded in various degrees. Civilian casualties are about 600.00 across both planets.

The Prime Minister of the Alliance, Francoise D' Anglar hasn't commented, but sources close to her state that she will be addressing the nation in the next hour.


	4. Chapter 4

**First of all I'd like to apologize for the delay between new updates. It's been a rather hectic couple of months, but within the next 2 weeks, I'll be uploading several parts.**

 **Enjoy!**

* * *

 **[REDACTED], [REDACTED], Terminus Systems / [REDACTED] 2376, 00:24 local time**

1st Lieutenant John Shepard and his team of Marine Raiders sat in a H-66 _Osprey_ Combat Support Dropship, callsign _Firedrake-one_ , as it made its descend through the atmosphere towards the Landing Zone several kilometers from the target compound. The inside of the _Osprey_ was lit by a dull red light, casting a shadow on each member of _Evocati_ , every one of them equipped in unreflective black ablative armor used by Alliance special forces. John Shepard checked his equipment, he synchronized his North-Atlantic Defense Corporation M-56 _Mattock_ JSOC Mod. Battle Rifle and NADC M-25 _Hornet_ Sub-Machine gun with his omni-tool, having it conduct some last minute checks before a message appeared stating that both were fully functional. A split second later, all relevant information appeared on his helmet HUD. All around him the seven other members of _Evocati_ were doing the same, performing last minute checks on their armor, weaponry and equipment. Across from his, sat Gunnery Sergeant Angelo Castello, nicknamed 'Titan' for his role as the team's weapon specialist and support gunner, carrying a M-142 _Typhoon_ Squad Automatic Weapon. The both of them sat on the seats closest to the ramp. As the dropship approached the LZ, it lowered its ramp, letting the light of the planet's both moons brighten the interior. Hovering half a meter above the ground, Shepard and Castello were the first ones out, sweeping the tree-line with their weapons as they stopped several meter of the ramp. A biotic shield was created around them as the team's biotics exited the dropship. Staff Sergeant Levana 'Liv' Yogorov and Corporal Harry 'Albino' MacMahon bodies were covered in a blue glow as both Vanguards stood behind Shepard and Castello. The team's Navy Corpsman Chief Petty Officer Jack 'Doc' O'Dofflin and the team's engineer and demolition expert Sergeant Nicolo 'Odin' Tomorchio came of next, moving to the left and right of Shepard. The last two team members were the stealth experts, Staff Sergeant Mikhail 'Zan' Van Zan and Corporal Baja 'Hunter' Hudgens were equipped with tactical cloaks and sniper rifles or designated marksman rifles. The _Osprey_ lifted off and _Evocati_ moved towards the trees. The _Osprey_ would fly below radar to an old abandoned airfield where 3 other _Osprey_ 's and 3 type A-79A _Mantis_ Ground Attack Gunships were waiting for the call for extraction.

A scrambled voice came over a secure comm-line asking for the authentication codes, Shepard responded, and once the codes turned out correct, a team of 8 Salarian STG operatives carrying _Poison_ Assault Rifles, _Bane_ SMG's, _Venom_ Shotguns and _Toxin_ Sniper Rifles, uncloaked from their positions in the forest. The team leader approached Shepard.

"Lieutenant Shepard? I'm Lieutenant Kirrahe, 5th Infiltration Regiment, Milon Cell. This is your unit?" Kirrahe quickly looked past Shepard towards _Evocati_ , but without giving Shepard time to respond, the fast talking Lieutenant started stating the facts about the compound several kilometers away. The STG team had been observing the compound for the past week and had collected the schedule of the guards, the location of the hostages and all relevant information. The largest group of guards had left hours before to the planets capital and wouldn't be back for days. Only 14 guards were left. One of the STG operatives projected a 3D holo of the compound on the ground. "The hostages are located in the attic of this building." Lt. Kirrahe pointed at the building in the center of holo. Guards patrol the perimeter, there are watchtowers here, here and here." The holo projected the route the guards walked, highlighted the watchtowers and showed many other things that Kirrahe mentioned while he laid out the plan of attack. _Evocati_ would infiltrate the base and secure the captured scientists, while STG _Milon_ Cell would raid the labs in which the captured scientists had been working before destroying everything they couldn't take with them. Both team would be extracted from the roof of an abandoned high-rise several hundred meters from the compound. Using several of the Batarian vehicles from around the compound, they would transport the hostages to the extraction point. The Rules of Engagement demanded total silence, unless discovered, then they were weapons free.

 **[REDACTED], [REDACTED], Terminus Systems / [REDACTED] 2376, 00:48 local time**

Using several ground based vehicles both _Evocati_ and _Milon_ Cell had reached a ledge overlooking the compound in less than 20 minutes. The primary extraction point lay about 420 meters from the compound in the opposite direction.

Shepard turned to SSgt Van Zan and Cpl Hudgens. "Zan, Hudgens. The both of you set up shop over here and provide overwatch together with the Salarian snipers. Callsign: Overwatch-one and two." Both nodded and found places with the best possible line of sight. 2 Salarians did the same, deploying their _Toxin_ Sniper Rifles. SSgt Van Zan flipped open the bipod on his heavy Vektan Weapon Systems M-101 _Black Widow_ Anti-Material Rifle while Cpl Hudgens took up a position with her Jormangund Technology M-33 _Valiant_ Designated Marksman Rifle. The Marine and STG overwatch teams would use the terrestrial vehicles they had used before to reach the high-rise.

In the meantime, both teams moved towards the compound. It took about 10 minutes for both teams to reach their assigned entry points on both sides of the compound. Once _Evocati_ was in position and Sergeant Tomorchio had cut a hole in the fence, Shepard opened the comm-link.

[" _Milon-one, this is Evocati-one. In Place."_ ] Kirrahe answered immediately.

[" _Evocati, Milon-One. Ready to breach in three, two, one. Breach!"_ ] Both teams went to the holes in the fence and entered the compound. Moving from cover to cover, sticking to the shadows while avoiding the search lights and the patrols. They moved past containers, smaller buildings acting as storage rooms, Batarian-made vehicles, a building that served as barracks, pens in which the remains of what appeared to be 2 Salarians, were rotting, before they reached the doors of the building in which the hostages were held. They stacked up against the wall, everybody keeping an eye on their assigned region with their weapons.

"Albino, hack those doors." Corporal MacMahon, a man of Irish descend, red eyes, white hair and a white skin, was an expert hacker, a master in everything concerning electronic devices. The doors opened several seconds later.

[" _Entering target."_ ] A single click over the comms made Shepard aware that the Salarians were doing the same at the labs.

Shepard had exchanged his _Mattock_ for his suppressed M-25 _Horne_ _t_ for the close quarters combat, the others either activated the suppression mods on their weapons or equipped weapons that had suppression mods.

Shepard was the first one inside, followed by SSgt Yogorov. The others followed close behind, with GySgt Castello forming the rear. They made their way through the barely lit hallways, sweeping the hallways and checking their corners while working their way up. Pass a room filled with servers, computers and datapads, the team stopped. "Albino, retrieve as much intel as possible. Titan, cover him while he does so. We'll pass back this way with the hostages." MacMahon and Castello did as told, while the rest proceeded.

 _Evocati_ stacked up in the stairwell, ready to breach the door and secure the hostages, when a message came over the comms from the teams providing overwatch.

[" _Evocati-one, this is Overwatch-two. Salarian drones just picked up a column of 12 fast moving vehicles approaching the compound."_ ] Quickly tapping a command in his omni-tool, a screen appeared in the top left corner of his HUD. 7 _Drad'benak_ light all-terrain attack vehicles and 5 technicals drove at a high speed across a dirt road through the hills west of the compound.

[" _What's their ETA?"_ ]

[" _25 minutes and closing. If you want a clean extract, you need to move."_ ]

Before Shepard had the possibility to respond the sound of a shotgun going off echoed through the hallways. Opening all channels, [" _Somebody better tell me what the fuck happened!"_ ] Shepard was furious, it was supposed to be quick and clean. Get in, get the hostages, get out.

[" _Nomad,"_ ] MacMahon used Shepard's callsign. [" _A tech accompanied by 2 Bats entered the room, Titan took them out, but one of the Bats twitched while dying and pulled the trigger."_ ]

' _God damn, now we have to go loud.'_ Shepard thought. Turning to his team, Shepard spoke. "Looks like we're going in hot." Some of the team changed weapons, while John switched off the suppression mod for his _Hornet_ SMG. At the exact same moment, both the Marine and STG Overwatch Team started targeting the guards on the watch towers and the ones on patrol. Quickly reducing the number to less than 10.

[" _The vehicles just picked up pace, looks like they're coming in hot!"_ ] Zan shouted over the comms.

[" _Do whatever you have to do to slow them down!"_ ] Then the door in front of Shepard opened. A Batarian wearing a simple light armored vest appeared, yet before he had the possibility to react, Shepard pulled him down while throwing a flashbang grenade into the attic. The Batarian fell down the stairs, landing badly as he came to a stop at the bottom of the stairwell, his head twisted into an unnatural angle. SSgt Yogorov shot several rounds into the Bat's head to be sure, nothing remained as the high velocity rounds coming out of the M-5 _Phalanx_ shot the head to pieces. With the sound of the flashbang going off, _Evocati_ stormed the attic.

Most of the Batarians hadn't been prepared for the flashbang and were still disoriented by the explosion. These were the ones who were quickly taken care of with well-placed shots and biotic attacks. Yet 4 hostiles had full combat armor on, which had neutralized most of the effects. They were already seeking cover behind pillars, turned over tables and hid into smaller rooms. The team took cover and spend the next couple of minutes exchanging fire. Yogorov used Pull and Singularity to try to remove them from their covers, succeeding with 2 allowing the other to pick them of. The remaining 2 were able to stay in their cover, thus O'Dofflin fired at their positions, keeping them pinned down, while Shepard and Tomorchio flanked their positions. Using his M-25 _Hornet_ and Tomorchio using his M-66 _Harrier_ , both surprised the 2 last hostiles by firing into their sides. Shepard fired controlled burst at their heads, while Odin's _Harrier_ went full automatic and perforated their bodies with dozens of mass accelerated metal pellets. Brain matter and blood spattered on the tables and walls behind them. Quickly securing the rest of the room, _Evocati_ proceeded to look for the hostages. Finding all locked away in a secure room. 7 Salarian, 2 Asari and 13 Human were all locked away in cages, the fear was visible in their eyes when the marines approached them. Some tried to crawl away and hid in the far corner of their cage, taking a fetal position and trying the shield themselves with their arms. Shepard removed his helmet and kneeled down at cage closest to him. Inside was a the youngest of the hostages, a girl whom he recognized from the files he had gone through dozens of times before deployment, yet her confinement made her look more like 40 than 20.

Using a soft and calm voice, John spoke to her: "Ms. Vinyard?" The woman stared at him for several seconds with empty eyes, before she recognized her own name and slowly nodded in response. John smiled at her before speaking. "We are with the Alliance, we are here to get you home. Your mother is going to be so happy that you'll return to her." Tears started to form in the girl's eyes as John carefully opened the cage. Then suddenly the girl shot forward and launched herself at him, wrapping her arms around him while sobbing uncontrollably.

The rest of _Evocati_ helped the others out of their cages, providing them with a nutrition bars while CPO O'Dofflin scanned them all with his medical omni-tool and provided first aid where necessary. One of the Salarians was missing one of his cranial horns, an Asari had lost a couple of her fingers, and some of the humans had serious wounds. When all were ready to leave, Shepard spoke over the comms.

[" _Evocati-one to all. Packages are secure. Coming back for extract."]_

Lieutenant Kirrahe answered that _Milon Cell_ had also complete their objective. The STG unit had raided the labs, taking everything they could with them before destroying the labs. In the meantime, the H-66 _Ospreys_ andA-79A _Mantis_ Ground Attack Gunships had taken off and were on their way.

 _Evocati_ moved down the stairwells, like always, Shepard was on point. Taking out the last remaining Batarians with his _Mattock_ , while the rest of the team helped the hostages. When they passed the server room, MacMahon and Castello rejoined them. When they had reached the Batarian vehicles, the STG team was already waiting for them, while the overwatch teams were making their way towards the extraction point. _Milon Cell_ and _Evocati_ helped the hostages into the vehicles, before leaving the compound behind them.

 **17 minutes later**

The 3 A-79A _Mantis_ Gunships were flying in a wedge formation in front of the 4 H-66 _Osprey_ flying in diamond formation. The biggest part of _Evocati_ was in the lead _Osprey,_ the hostages had been divided along the two other ones, since they had medical personnel on board. _Milon Cell_ was in the last one.

MacMahon sat next to Shepard, he was showing him a datapad, giving him a quick rundown of all the useful intel he had gathered from the servers.

"Well, AIA and MID will be happy with that kind of intel. If it gives us intel about upcoming raids, we can ambush them…." Before Shepard could continue Zan spoke.

"Shepard, just got word back from STG. _"_

Shepard looked up at Zan, who was sitting across from him. "What is it?"

"Those approaching vehicles belong to SIU." The SIU, short for Special Intervention Unit, was an elite Batarian unit made up of the sons from the most important Batarian family. They were closely linked to numerous Terminus slaver and pirate gangs.

"Which unit are they from?"

"They are Captain Dhag'dova his unit, sir." Shepard slammed his fist into the datapad when he heard that name, shattering it. SIU Captain Brekis Dhag'dova was the Batarian liaison to slaver gangs responsible for the Massacre of Mindoir, despite the Batarian Hegemony stating that he and his unit had gone rogue. It had been Dhag'dova who escaped with more than 1500 girls and young women and it had been his idea to leave behind and detonate the thermobaric bomb which had destroyed the majority of Nouveau Genève and had killed over a 100.000 people.

Shepard turned around and looked at Van Zan. "Are you 100% positive?"

Van Zan nodded, all members of _Evocati_ knew the meaning of Mindoir to Shepard, even if he never talked about his past.

Knowing this new information, Shepard contacted the MID armed cargo ship in orbit, talking directly to the officer in charge. [" _Evocati-one to Enclave. We just came across a high target of opportunity."_ ]

The answer came immediately. [" _Enclave to Evocati-one. Copy that. We received the intel as well."_ ]

[" _Requesting permission to engage."_ ] ' _C'mon let me finally get this bastard. I've waited far to long for this._ ' For half a minute Military Intelligence Directorate Colonel Autumn remained quiet, contemplating if the target was worth risking the mission. [" _Don't leave me hanging here, Enclave."]_

[ _Get the packages out of there and you have my go-ahead._ ]

[" _Copy that. Proceeding for exfil."]_

Shepard rose from his seat and spoke with the pilot. 2 minutes later, 2 _Mantis'_ and _Evocati's Osprey_ broke formation and flew on an interception course with the SUI vehicles.

 _ **Milon Cell Osprey**_ **on route to MID Cargo Ship**

Lieutenant Kirrahe and _Milon Cell_ watched on the _Osprey_ 's vidscreen as the 2 _Mantis_ Gunships engaged the SUI vehicles. The gunships launched dozens of air-to-ground precision-kill missiles, taking out the first and last vehicles, thus trapping the other vehicles in between. Before turning around and doing several strafing runs with their belly-mounted M350 mass-accelerator autocannons, destroying more than half the vehicles. The _Osprey_ remained hovering 35 meters above and behind the convoy, one of its door-guns sending hundreds of incendiary rounds on any moving target, shredding through metal and meat.

The gunships moved to both ends of the convoy, while _Evocati_ dropped out of the _Osprey_ before engaging the few remaining Batarians. The heavy smoke of the burning vehicles didn't allow Kirrahe to see the fight that took place. After 10 minutes _Evocati_ returned, Shepard dragging Dhag'dova at the handcuffs over the ground, the SUI Captain's legs had shattered when the vehicles he was in, had flipped over several time. The _Osprey_ landed, _Evocati_ entered before taking off. In the meantime, the gunships unleashed the remainder of their rockets on the convoy, completely destroying it.

 **Alliance News Network, BREAKING NEWS: Kidnapped scientists rescued from slavers**

We interrupt our usual broadcasting two very important news segments.

Several sources in the Alliance government have confirmed that the 20 scientists kidnapped by slavers 7 months ago have been rescued from an undisclosed location in the Terminus System. Among the scientists were 7 Salarians, 2 Asaris and 13 Humans, each one has been returned to their respective governments. Among the 13 human scientists is Rachel Vinyard, daughter of Senator Samantha Vinyard, 6 times senator for the planet of Altaïr and member of the Vinyard political family.

While the Alliance or Citadel Council refuse to divulge information, sources in both government, wishing to remain anonymous, have told us that it was a joint rescue operation between Alliance Marine Raiders and Salarian STG acting on intelligence provided by the Asari Spectre Tela Vasir.

In the meantime, those same sources confirmed to us that in the same rescue, Alliance forces managed to capture rogue Batarian SU Captain Brekis Dhag'dova. According to the Batarian Hegemony, Captain Dhag'dova and his unit of elite Batarian soldiers went rogue in 2370 when they led the Raid on Mindoir together with dozens of groups operating out of the Terminus System. While Alliance forces had succeeded in eliminating most hostile forces, Captain Dhag'dova managed to escape in several ships, taking with him more than 1500 girls and young women with him as slaves. For unknown reasons, Dhag'dova then detonated a thermobaric bomb in the city of Nouveau Genève, killing over 100.00 people, before disappearing. Dhag'dova will be trialed in an Alliance Court for War Crimes.


	5. UPDATE, NOT A NEW CHAPTER

**UPDATE:**

 **I've been rewritting my story. For now I updated Chapters 1 & 2, giving more background to the story. In the next weeks I'll update the other ones and hope to post a new chapter in this and two weeks**


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